Mubasher: Cable television and internet giant Comcast Corporation has announced that it is seriously seeking to acquire Twenty-First Century Fox by presenting “an all-cash” proposal.

Although a final decision has not been made yet, US-based Comcast was in the “advanced stages” of preparing an offer “at a premium” to Walt Disney’s $52.4 billion all-share offer, the Philadelphia-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Similar to Disney’s proposal, the TV cable giant would purchase Fox’s media assets including film studio, television network, and Star TV in Asia, while the offer would exclude the New York-based company’s news channel, business network and broadcasting company, BBC News reported. 

Moreover, the Cable TV giant's offer would comprise a 39% stake in Sky, for which Comcast made a separate offer in April, bringing it to a showdown with Fox that looks to take over the British broadcaster outright.

The move comes as a confirmation to rumours about the NBC owner’s interest in Fox which were circulated for weeks.

However, an acquisition offer by the US TV giant would be prone to regulatory scrutiny and so would be the case for Disney.

Meanwhile, an analyst speculated that the deal would be unlikely to take place until a case filed by the US administration to block a merger deal between Time Warner and AT&T in June.

Nevertheless, Comcast offered to pay a significant break fee in the event of regulatory risk.

For his part, Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger had previously played down Comcast Corporation's quest to acquire Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's assets, voicing his confidence about his bid.